The Grandmaster ranked third, Eunuch Mo, personally came to invite, and instead of going to the Imperial Palace, he went straight into the Immortal Hall.
As Li Ji'an watched his figure disappear into the Immortal Hall, heavily guarded like on the day of the Immortal Scripture, thoughts surged in his mind.
Especially as he saw the Emperor also emerge from the Immortal Hall shortly after, bowing and waiting calmly outside, he was certain that his previous guesses were confirmed.
Since the Immortal Master first descended a hundred years ago, they would only appear on Immortal Scripture Day; such an unexpected event had never occurred.
"Is it really just for Ning Sujin this time?"
"No wonder it's unavoidable no matter what; these cultivators likely have ways to track down traces."
"Because of her ability to seek fortune and avoid disaster?"
"Ning Yutan..."
Various clues flashed in Li Ji'an's mind, and in the end, only the thread of Ning Yutan seemed most probable.
But what he couldn't understand was why, after Ning Yutan had been in the Cultivation Realm for five years, it was happening now?
Time passed bit by bit...
Until nightfall came, and the evening drums sounded, the doors of the Immortal Hall suddenly opened.
Ning Sujin, with a complex expression, slowly walked out of the Immortal Hall, passed the heavily guarded Armored Guards, and approached Li Ji'an.
"The Immortal Master wants to take me to the Immortal Realm!"
"Is it fortunate or unfortunate?"
"Most fortunate!"
Li Ji'an stared into her eyes, ultimately seeing no waves, and gave a carefree smile: "In that case, so be it!"
"Take care!"
"Take care!"
This time, there was no clear sight of flying swords or flying boats, only a distant flash of light.
Li Ji'an waved towards the luminous streak in the sky, sighing at life's uncertainties.
In the following days, without Ning Sujin to seek fortune and avoid disaster, he became even more cautious in his actions.
Four years passed quickly.
As the once-in-a-decade Immortal Scripture was about to commence, tension escalated within the Immortal Palace, increasing patrols of Armored Guards by fifty percent, while hidden experts heightened their vigilance.
"Whoosh~" In Li Ji'an's room, a light sound resonated as the four-finger-thick stone slab before him was pierced by Qi as fine as steel needles.
"Phew~ it's at its limit. Even now with Minor Achievement in Bone Marrow Forging, the blood and Qi can't extend beyond a zhang, and the refinement is still not precise enough... I wonder how the Su Family's 'Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needle' refines and triggers its power?"
After another four years, Li Ji'an's Inner Strength had only ascended a minor step, which was naturally the result of his own suppression.
However, his External Martial Arts had made rapid progress. With extraordinary comprehension and inspired by references from the Lower Three Floors of Scripture Pavilion's thousands of second-tier martial arts, he now had considerable insights into refining and stimulating Qi and blood.
Building on the foundation of various martial arts, he optimized and created several arts not inferior to those on the Pavilion's 3rd Floor.
However, he could only stop there.
Developing top-tier martial arts would take more than a lifetime; those top martial arts on the rankings were all born through generations of continuous improvement and iteration.
Now he could only pin his hopes on entering the 3rd, or even Upper Floors of Scripture Pavilion after this Immortal Scripture event. With those top martial arts as a base and augmented future life comprehension, there was great hope.
"Brother Li, will the Immortal Master take you to the Immortal Realm next year?"
Having been a hostage at the Immortal Palace for nine years, now seventeen-year-old Zhao Yunsheng stepped forward, taking the stone slab punctured by Li Ji'an and fitting it onto his self-designed Wooden and Stone Vehicle.
Li Ji'an shook his head: "Naturally, it's impossible."
"Then you're just fond of martial arts... Hmm, like what others call a martial arts enthusiast?" Zhao Yunsheng had almost become accustomed to life in the Immortal Palace, adjusting the Wooden and Stone Vehicle as he spoke.
"Perhaps." Li Ji'an responded with an ambiguous smile.
During these four years, he had mostly interacted with Yun Sheng, and he was fond of Yun Sheng's nature, who was entirely absorbed in carpentry at heart, at least pure and without extra thoughts.
Their time together passed peacefully.
However, that peace was broken three months later.
As the Immortal Scripture approached, King Yun, who had been maneuvering with the Emperor, suddenly rose in rebellion. He led an army, gathered refugees, and in one night seized the Northwest territories of five prefectures.
The Emperor was furious. Over the years, he hadn't acted forcefully because he intended to stabilize King Yun, and after earning the Immortal Master's favor in this Immortal Scripture, he planned to ask for the Immortal Master's intervention, ensuring a bloodless solution. But he underestimated King Yun's cunning and craftiness.
Moreover, to ensure nothing went wrong with the Immortal Seedling, the Emperor had committed a large amount of military forces and experts to this effort, which played right into King Yun's plans.
The Emperor summoned the influential ministers, including the Duke Zhen'guo, to the court overnight for counsel.
Yet before the Duke Zhen'guo could deploy his troops beyond the Imperial City, a plea letter from King Yun had already reached the court.
Before the entire court, King Yun's envoy held aloft the bloody letter, decrying injustice with tearful indignation, claiming that his uprising was unintended, only for self-preservation. Someone had informed him that the Emperor planned to eliminate him soon, and he asserted his innocence in the Immortal Seedling incident nine years ago. He was willing to surrender his command and beg for forgiveness, as long as the Emperor rooted out the true culprit and exonerated him publicly without further pursuit.
This move gave the Emperor, who was somewhat on the defensive in this crucial moment, a glimmer of hope.
All he needed was to drag it out until the next year's Immortal Scripture, and everything could be resolved.
Thus, after harshly rebuking King Yun, he reluctantly agreed.
But what he didn't expect was that an Imperial Censor would then boldly step forward, asserting his unwillingness to see the people suffer and to shed blood once more, risking his life to accuse and expose the current Grand Prince, claiming that he was the orchestrator of the Immortal Seedling calamity nine years ago, aiming to usurp the throne.
In an instant, the old Emperor's Qi surged. He had naturally suspected his grandson back then, but never had the evidence, and because of King Yun's many strong stances, he had become more suspicious of King Yun. Later, he had even been reprimanded by the Immortal Master, forcing him to focus on the next round of Immortal Seedling and King Yun instead.
This confirmation greatly magnified his doubts.
And in the current situation, even if the Grand Prince was only very suspect, if not, he might still have been pushed forward, temporarily quelling King Yun.
The Grand Prince, notified of this, was forced into a palace coup, bringing forth a backing Grandmaster to battle with the Emperor.
As grandson betrayed grandfather, Duke Zhen'guo personally led the army, welcoming King Yun into the Imperial City, ultimately capturing the Emperor in one fell swoop...
The dynasty was shaken, earth was turned upside down, yet within the Immortal Palace, there was almost no change, except a few masters urgently supported the Emperor; everything else remained normal.
By the time Li Ji'an heard this news, the dynasty had already stabilized temporarily.
King Yun declared to the world that the Grand Prince had rebelled and killed his grandfather. He led the army to protect the king, and finally, accepted the call to take the Emperor's throne during this emergency.
Duke Zhen'guo was rewarded with a peerless merit and granted the title of Prince!
What left Li Ji'an particularly reflective was the rumor that Duke Zhen'guo's ancestor was once the first mighty general under the original King Yun, granted the title of Marquis Dingyuan to guard Qing Province, which was also a result of the first King Yun's support.
Even after several generations, Dingyuan Marquis's Mansion and Prince Yun's Mansion continued the friendship of their ancestors.
"Remarkable, truly remarkable! Yet also utterly uninteresting..." Li Ji'an sighed, lamenting the lengths people would go for power and status.
Of course, all these rumors were recounted by Zhao Yunsheng once he was admitted to the Imperial Palace and granted the title of Imperial Grandson, who came out in boredom to play with him.
One year later, the Immortal Scripture commenced as usual.
According to Zhao Yunsheng, when the Immortal Master saw the Emperor had changed, he didn't question it a bit; instead, appreciating that this round's Immortal Seedling quality surpassed the last, he bestowed an Immortal Treasure.
At this point, hopes for the world's Immortal Seedling were thoroughly dashed, and Li Ji'an no longer intentionally suppressed himself, diverting more energy into Inner Strength cultivation.
Because of Zhao Yunsheng's connection as the Imperial Grandson, he easily remained in the Immortal Palace and even took up a position in the Scripture Pavilion.
Thus began decades of stable cultivation as days turned into years…